Project Summary/Abstract ? Administrative Core The Administrative Core, Steering Committee, Mentoring and Networking Program, Bioinformatics Core and DRP Program are the elements that bring together the participating institutions and their SC INBRE programs into an active network. The structure, organization and functions of the Administrative Core will be essentially as in the current SC INBRE except for the fact the addition of an administrative assistant who will take care of the financial management and data collection-reporting functions of the program. This will free up the Program Manager, PI and PC to concentrate on the expanded functions of the Administrative Core, particularly the DRP program and Mentoring and Networking program needs. The Administrative Core will manage SC INBRE III in all of its aspects, activities and functions. In particular, the Core will handle all of the organizational and logistic aspects of the DRP Program, the Mentoring and Networking Program and the Bioinformatics Pilot Projects program, in addition to providing help, support and oversight to the individual Institutional SC INBRE program at each partner institution. The Core will facilitate formal evaluation of SC INBRE, performed as always by the External Advisory Committee (EAC) and the External Evaluator. Another important level of informal evaluation resides with the Steering Committee and its Mentoring Subcommittee, which monitor the performance of faculty and students at their respective institutions on an ongoing basis. The Administrative Core will support the activities of the Bioinformatics Core which will continue fostering the development of new scientific ideas through an expanded Bioinformatics Pilot Project program, and by providing services ranging from data analysis/storage/management to grant proposal preparation, to the organization of courses and workshops. Last, but not least, The Administrative Core will continue to promote diversity across the network. Virtually all the PUIs have increased underrepresented minority (URM) participation in their programs, and some are at the forefront of educating first-generation college students from URM and underserved populations. Each institution has developed a written diversity plan as a component of their application for membership in the SC INBRE network. Key to the success of these plans is to coordinate the efforts of SC INBRE PUI programs and carefully monitor their progress, so that the leadership of each institution keeps a strong focus on diversity and sustains URM recruitment and retention efforts at all levels. The EAC has been extremely effective in guiding us and making sure that we kept a strong focus on this particular area. The Administrative Core will monitor each school?s progress in this area, facilitating review by the EAC and the External Evaluator and managing data collection and reporting.